mad guruhttp://www.madguru.com
thought provoking mediaSun, 10 Dec 2017 16:21:25 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.9.160763185Kathputli Colony Loss and Hopehttp://www.madguru.com/archives/13751
http://www.madguru.com/archives/13751#respondTue, 31 Oct 2017 15:52:39 +0000http://www.madguru.com/?p=13751I feel at a loss. Yesterday, I read the news that residents of Kathputli Colony in Delhi, India were bulldozed out of their homes. This is a colony of artists that migrated to this unwanted space about 50 years ago. Traditional puppeteers, magicians, acrobats, fire breathers and other performers and artists have made their home, in difficult conditions, without the benefits of government services and utilities.

Hesitantly, I just called Puran Bhatt. I hesitated, because I don’t know what I can offer and can only imagine how many people he has spoken to already. So I called him, and his response was suprising. He spoke to me, his voice hoarse and the connection unstable over the phone. He told me that what was, was as it had to be. They did not need any funds. He has moved into the transit colony. His hopes and the hopes of his community are just that their children will be given ownership of their own homes as promised. Any support in ensuring that happens is all that he asks. Besides that, he hopes that his children and those of his community can receive modern skills training in computers, so that they can both build upon their traditions and survive in the future.

These artists have weathered the changing economies that have erased much of their already modest incomes. Yet they have continued to perform, and even innovate in the art forms handed down through generations in their families. Though these same artists are paraded out to showcase Indian culture at large events and for visiting dignitaries, they have not seen the financial rewards that should accompany the rich representation of culture that is readily being foresaken for short term financial gain.

So, before speaking to Puran, I was at a loss for what to do. As usual, it is the artists themselves who have provided those answers. They inspire me with their resiliance in the face of challenges that I can’t fully imagine. They inspire me to continue the uphill battle of raising funds for ‘Risalo’, my puppetry film in collaboration with Puran Bhatt and his team.

Despite not being able to get a visa to India, I worked with Puran Bhatt, from the Kathputli to create the puppets for the film over phone and email while working directly with musicians and other artists in Pakistan. My wife was in India, and she visited him and picked up the custom puppets he created along with premade puppets from Rajesh Gurjargour in Udaipur.

I worked with scores of artists to put together the music, puppets and backgrounds for the film. I brought these back to Los Angeles, pieced together work, built more skills, struggled to find full time work to replenish or at least stay afloat, while writing proposals, applying for grants and seeking support to bring a small group of puppeteers from Delhi to Los Angeles to shoot the film despite political, geographical and financial barriers that keep us apart.

So how can you help? Hire these traditional artists and create new opportunities. Support projects that include these artists. Share skills that could be relevant to their future. For my part, I am working to raise funds to complete ‘Risalo‘. In addition, I have been creating youtube videos with lessons on animation techniques in Urdu/Hindi and English.

]]>http://www.madguru.com/archives/13721/feed013721Doctors and Engineers at Nisei Weekhttp://www.madguru.com/archives/13702
http://www.madguru.com/archives/13702#respondMon, 21 Aug 2017 15:28:17 +0000http://www.madguru.com/?p=13702I went to see my friends Doctors and Engineers perform at Nisei Week. As always, they pack a lot of energy into their live performances. They are definitely a band to see live. The Nisei Week celebrations were a lot of fun with floats, music and food, in Little Tokyo, here in downtown Los Angeles.
]]>http://www.madguru.com/archives/13702/feed013702Belle and Sebastian, Spoon at the Hollywood Bowlhttp://www.madguru.com/archives/13687
http://www.madguru.com/archives/13687#respondMon, 07 Aug 2017 08:22:52 +0000http://www.madguru.com/?p=13687Thanks to my friend Melisa, I got to enjoy Belle and Sebastian and Spoon perform at the Hollywood Bowl. What a great show. I enjoyed Kristin Kontrol’s opening set too, but did not get a chance to sketch. It’s been a while since I sketched at a music show. It was quite dark at the Bowl, but the music was so great, I had to try and sketch something down. In the end, I don’t expect great sketches. It’s more the act of creating something while in that moment that brings me this high, or this feeling of absolute bliss.
]]>http://www.madguru.com/archives/13687/feed013687SANA Conference 2017 Sundayhttp://www.madguru.com/archives/13634
http://www.madguru.com/archives/13634#respondMon, 03 Jul 2017 18:37:18 +0000http://www.madguru.com/?p=13634

Having presented the night before, I hoped to speak to more people about my puppetry film, ‘Risalo‘, based on the poetry of Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai. It’s difficult to walk into a crowd, on your own, and try to ask for help. It certainly helped that a good number of people had at least seen my presentation. It’s not always about trying to gain the support of hundreds of people. I feel that getting the support of key community members can really help to advocate for this effort.

I went to El Dorado park at the tail end of the SANA picnic there. I thought that was a pretty great idea, to have a fun outdoor portion of the event. The weather was great and it is a beautiful park. I managed to follow up with a few people and got some suggestions on how I can leverage SANA’s help a bit further. Every bit of help is appreciated. I’m really working on this by myself as I push for outside momentum to help me. There is a great deal of interest in the work that has been completed and the potential for what remains, but translating that into the resources needed to shoot the film is challenging. We take pride in culture, but what does that culture mean to us? How do we define it? What are those symbols and representations that are vital to its definition? To me, it is a support of the ideas and practices that are unique and beautiful within a community. That support must take the form of forward thinking action that takes care of those practitioners and exemplifiers of these ideals, or it will vanish into the homogeny of our every day race to make money and assimilate into purely capitalistic goals. Not everything that has value makes money. Therefore, it is up to people to value by supporting. It is very much of an up hill battle, and I do often question how much longer I should fight for it, before wrapping things up and moving on. For if a community does not place value in the future of its culture, who am I to resist it?

Well, thankfully I am extremely stubborn and I tend to piece together every kind word, or thought in the direction of my efforts to motivate me to keep working, on top of every person that has made any bit of effort to help along the way. None of these people can be forgotten and neither can the value that I place in them. So I continue.

I went to the evening dinner and enjoyed company with some more well wishers. Every idea and even the smallest bit of help, will inch this effort forward. There was a musical program featuring Humaira Channah, a well respected Pakistani singer. In addition to that, there was a wonderful fundraising effort, to support SANA, and even more so, educational scholarships in Sindh. It made my heart happy to see the generous outpouring of support. I taught in Universities in quite a few cities in Pakistan. I have met students from rural backgrounds for whom theirs is the first journey to higher education in their families. These students are often there despite the odds, while more financially able students don’t always have the same sense of appreciation for that opportunity. It truly is life changing.

I hope that in time, with continued effort, that I can complete my film, ‘Risalo’ and continue my efforts to support those artists who preserve, represent and share our culture, for they too work despite all odds stacked against them, to remind us of who we are and what we can become. Thanks to SANA for welcoming me and giving me a chance to share.

I had stayed up until 4am the night before, putting the finishing touches on my presentation video for SANA, a Sindhi conference where I was to present on my puppet film, Risalo, based on the poetry of Shah Latif. It is difficult to boil down a huge undertaking with so many facets to connect just those key points that you think will not only interest your audience, but mobilize them to help.

I finally figured out how I wanted to present my project and what might be of interest to SANA attendees. I ended up making some small additional changes in the morning thanks to my wife’s suggestions and a couple of things I saw in addition to that. It felt good though, to feel that, while not perfect, the video would tell the story I needed to tell, in just over 8 minutes.

I arrived at the conference and sat at the registration table for a while. I met the daughter of a Sindhi scholar who had written an english translation of Shah Latif’s book of poetry, Shah Jo Risalo. The daughter had shipped the books from Pakistan at significant expense, to sell them to raise funds for SANA and spread the poet’s words to people.

I met some more volunteers and waited for a session to let out. I met the scholar’s daughter’s grandchildren and her daughter. That was a joy. They were incredibly sweet children, helping with book sales, walking around letting people know about the book. Talking to children can often brighten my day.

My talk was listed in the program guide and several people were interested in it, for which I was grateful. I walked around a bit, after the session let out, tested the video and audio on the projector thanks to Arshad Ali who single handedly set up sound for the evening performance.

I walked around a bit aimlessly after that and really had no idea what to do with myself during the break between the last session and the dinner program. I’ll add another post about the photography experiments I did in between. After that, I made my way back to the conference and was greeted by Aziz Narejo, whom I met last year. He took me under his wing and I joined at a dinner table with the present and several past presidents (chairpersons) of SANA. Some people remembered me from last year and Aziz was kind enough to take an interest in my efforts on ‘Risalo’ and I really appreciated the thoughts and connections he helped me with.

I ended up going on a bit earlier, but I was ready and really it was perfect timing as the room was packed after we had a delicious dinner with adults and children. It was the perfect time to share my project. There was a lot of talking going on in all the sessions, but hopefully I connected my journey and plea for help on ‘Risalo’ to some interested people. It is hard to really know. My table mates were kind and congratulatory of my efforts and presentation. I sat and enjoyed a skit, some songs, poetry and took some photos.

At a bit before midnight, I felt quite tired and unsure of my ability to gain the support I need to finish the film. I did my best, I decided I needed to go home and rest. As I walked out, and down the hall, two young women, Kiffa and Rebecca stopped me. They appreciated what I shared and told me about their own interests. We brainstormed and shared common experiences of how we connected to culture through music by different bands and how that lead to an interest in more. I got some good suggestions for how to engage their age group with what I was doing, and I appreciated the confidence boost, before I thanked them again and made my way home to sleep, with mixed feelings at how I did and how much longer I could keep pushing with so little outside momentum and yet I am grateful.

]]>http://www.madguru.com/archives/13612/feed013612Doctors and Engineers at the CSU Fundraiserhttp://www.madguru.com/archives/13556
http://www.madguru.com/archives/13556#respondTue, 25 Apr 2017 08:28:33 +0000http://www.madguru.com/?p=13556Here are a few photos of Doctors and Engineers performing at the Community Services Unlimited fundraiser. Most of the day I was supporting rHope and a little chubby fella with a cool hat. I managed a few shots with a vintage Tokina 80-200mm f2.8. It is an amazing lens to get some nice shots of the stage from a distance.
]]>http://www.madguru.com/archives/13556/feed013556Antelope Valley, California, Poppy Fieldshttp://www.madguru.com/archives/13541
http://www.madguru.com/archives/13541#respondMon, 03 Apr 2017 16:08:32 +0000http://www.madguru.com/?p=13541

I visited some poppy fields in Antelope Valley a few weeks ago and photographed them with vintage lenses on a Sony a6500. The wind was very strong, so I played with higher shutter speeds to freeze time. I got a few nice macro shots with a Vivitar 90mm f2.8 and most of the others were shot with a Vivitar 28mm f2.0 and a Rokinon 14mm f2.8. I did a bit of minimal color and contrast adjustment using Camera Raw in Photoshop.

The protest at LAX today was reaffirming for me in the power of people coming together for positive change. I am glad for the friends who joined and all others who are working in their own way. It is something we have done before the current US elections and will continue to do long after, and it seems with more urgency. Perhaps the marginalization of so many by this administration will lead to stronger coalition building and efforts to make real change. We truly have no choice. This morning before joining in the protests, I put down some of the thoughts below.

Every wave of immigration in the US has been opposed and yet immigration is what has made this country great, despite many serious challenges that are yet to be resolved. The topic of immigration has always been an easy way to prey upon the xenophobia, that fear of the unknown, the other, to placate the existing population, not by improving their lives, but by maintaining the status quo and creating a false sense of proactive action for their benefit.

Today, people who have gone through the extremely difficult vetting process to obtain a visa or green card to be in the US, and gathered the very large sum of money it takes to fly here are being detained at the airport and even being sent back. Imagine that you, or someone you care about is coming here and upon arrival they are detained. Their names may be released now, thanks to the efforts of the ACLU and other lawyers around the country. At least now, we can know they exist and lawyers can fight for their rights, but this won’t change without all of us. If you stop yourself from taking action now, who will take action for you when this precedent affects you directly?

Many of the best minds and hardest working people from around the world have borne incredible hardship to come here to the United States, and despite racism, and politics that all too often tells them they don’t belong, they have made this their home and done so much to contribute to society. One who is born into legal protections does not appreciate their value as much as those who have gone without and made that almost impossible struggle to leave behind everything, for the sake of a dream to have opportunities and basic protections.

Those protections were not handed out. They were earned, through the struggle, lives and strength of all people who make this land their home. Social progress has always been held back by politics of division, a lack of desire to truly address the needs of the population, covered by pointing at marginalized communities as the enemy to pass legislation that ultimately will be used against those who quietly go along with it today.

What has such and such community ever contributed to this country? Maybe it is up to us to look around and see those contributions, rather than demanding that every human being seen as other make the case for their right to exist. A lot of legislation is being pushed through without people having the opportunity to question or scrutinize. Yet there is a legal system in place for the moment. It still exists, but we need to support those protections and that process in the face of legislation that threatens to erase it while we sit and question the victims of injustice rather than the perpetrators of it.

We still have the ability to make our voices heard. It requires that we inconvenience ourselves to show up and speak out against the reversal of hard fought social progress, on the lives of the many who died to push for the rights we take for granted today. Thanks to the sacrifices of so many, all we have to do is show up.

]]>http://www.madguru.com/archives/13423/feed013423Doctors and Engineers EP Release Tropico De Nopalhttp://www.madguru.com/archives/13275
http://www.madguru.com/archives/13275#respondMon, 14 Nov 2016 04:07:14 +0000http://www.madguru.com/?p=13275I went to see my friends Doctors and Engineers at their EP release show at Tropico De Nopal. These are friends I have known for years and it was so fantastic to see the fruition of much labor. People don’t often realize how much it takes to put together music, record and create an event. It’s a ton of after hours blood, sweat and tears to hone skills and create something incredible, somehow between all else that life throws your way. I was so glad to be there and enjoy the incredible lineup of King Kang, El Haru-Kuroi, Discostan and headliners, Doctors and Engineers. After the shit show that has been this election, it was quite amazing to be in a room that represents a cross section of what this beautiful city has to offer. It was a gathering of cultural, ethnic, linguistic, artistic diversity, with all genders, orientations and simply fantastic people doing what they can to better the world around them in those on stage and off.

Many around the US don’t seem to understand or care about the ramifications of what just happened. Bigotry, misogyny and a complete lack of relevant experience was rewarded with the presidency. Overwhelmingly white America sold out the rest of the country in the hopes of possibly reclaiming some tax dollars, cutting out healthcare and in many cases being able to be a bigoted piece of shit without guilt. I’m thankful for spaces like this show, because so many of all races have fought to get us all that we have, and in this beautiful, musical release, I felt like this was a window into that richness that we’re going to fight to protect. If you don’t see the problem, check out this link.

Here are some sketches I made during the show, while peeking from behind heads, dodging elbows and trying to see in the dark.